Written by by By Rosemary Bernardini, CNN
On July 23, at around 7:15 p.m., Florida fisherman Chad Nichols caught a small shark while casting his son’s boat into the Caloosahatchee River, which runs through the southwestern part of the state. He is pictured here with the shark.
But the picture that captivated the internet was not of the big, dangerous sharks that are so often the subject of shark and ray fanatics’ wrath. Instead, this was a small shark, a tiny monitor, — about the size of your thumb. It was also holding onto a tiny bald eagle.
Nichols posted a photograph of the two creatures to the Facebook page of the Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission , saying “Had to get a few ducks this evening… but I’ll tell you what, these two are in some good company…
“There was only 1.5 feet between the prey and me and a pair of swift right eagles were at the top of the fishing line… I was headed over to dive for shad to eat, and what I saw on the other side of the line was an eagle. Now they’re really catching attention….”
Nearly a million people had already clicked “like” on the photograph by July 26. The grey dolphin that was previously seen swimming beside the shark was reported as never being seen again by a wildlife expert, a dramatic turn of events for the short-finned pilot whale species. It is now believed to have passed from this life to the great blue shark.
Another photograph posted by Nichols shows a group of ten-foot alligator snapping at the fish. He said they should have been much less curious and at least come up with some food, because “they could have eaten this sucker.”